Imaginary Friend
by Seraphina Elias
Summary: A one shot I decided to write after a post I saw on Facebook.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: _I would just like to take a moment to talk about something very briefly. To all of you who seem to think that sending reviews like "rape baby", "you support rape", "fat ugly whore", I would just like to let you all know that you are everything that's wrong with this fandom. What you're doing is considered bullying and harassment. The fact that you are submitting these in as anon only shows you are trying to avoid being criticized or reprimanded. You're nothing but a bunch of cowards and the fact that I have to filter through several of these kinds of reviews everyday shows how big of a problem this is. The actors on the show -as well as the creators- have spoken on how there's no room for hate in this fandom, so here's my thought... You don't like that there's other ships? You think you can verbally assault fellow fans, just because you are taking something in a show completely out of context? LEAVE. Goodbye. No one wants you here. I'm sure several of you are now going to log in to leave a review playing the victim. As if you've done nothing wrong. We all know that you people exist and that you like to act all innocent. Fact is, you're horrible human beings and there's just no place for people like you in a fandom that's about love and happy endings. There are a lot of broken people here and though your words don't impact me, they do have an effect on other people._

Regina sat on the bench and watched as her niece ran around the playground, playing tag. For the last week, the entire Mills family had been sick, leaving everyone cooped up in the house. This was the first day in which they'd actually had the chance to go out and have some fun in what felt like forever. Parks were never a real enjoyable place for Robyn, but she needed to blow off all the energy she'd accumulated while Regina recovered from her illness. The little girl had made it to the top of the structure and was getting ready to slide down the slide when another child tapped her on the shoulder, making her 'it'. Robyn smiled wildly and shouted, "Okay! I'm coming down!"

The second her feet hit the bark dust, she took off running, sending every other kid who was playing in the opposite direction. Rather than turning back around to chase after one of her newfound friends, baby Hood ran off towards the nearby trees. Everyone stopped and stared, but Regina shot up and sprinted in the same direction, calling after her. It wasn't that the trees were thick, but that Robyn was small and had a head start. Rushing to look for the child she was in charge of, the mayor soon began to panic, yelling the girl's name as loud as she could. Instead of getting a direct reply, all that could be heard was a giggle. The scene suddenly felt eerie as she searched the area, expecting the worst.

"Come on, let's play!" She heard Robyn exclaim playfully.

"Robyn, where are you?" Regina called out to her.

The only clue she received was an echo that sounded like it came from her left towards the back of the forest, "No, I don't want to."

Alarm bells went off in Regina's head. That was not an appropriate response to the question she'd asked. She was speaking to someone else, but the only voice she'd heard was her niece's. This told her that whoever Robyn was speaking to was talking in a hushed tone, so that she was the only one who could hear them. This made the woman nervous and she became frantic as she ran through the trees. By this time, some of the other parents had noticed what was going on, including Snow. Without hesitating, the Charming asked one of the other mothers to keep an eye on Neal and joined Regina in her search.

"What happened?" Snow asked upon arriving.

Regina spun around to see if there was any sign of the child in the other directions. "I don't know." She turned back and told Snow, "She was playing tag with the others and after she came down the slide she just ran off."

"It's okay, we'll find her."

Together the two women scoured the trees, searching as much ground as they could before Robyn suddenly stepped out from behind a tree, directly in front of Regina. The mayor, after almost tripping over the child, scooped her up and held her tight. Her heart was racing so fast, she was sure it would short out like an electrical fuse and kill her. In her years as a mother, she'd never experienced anything close to what had just happened. Snow ran up to them and silently asked if they were okay with one look. Regina nodded as she stood up, one arm around Robyn's body and the other on the back of the child's head. She kissed the little girl and gave her one last squeeze before loosening her grip to look her in the face.

"Don't ever do that to me again, okay?" She said softly.

The little girl looked confused, "Do what?"

"Run off by yourself."

"But, Aunty, I wasn't by myself."

Regina and Snow looked at each other with wide eyes as they walked back to the playground, Robyn now on her aunt's hip. They felt it was necessary to warn the other mothers that they'd just been informed someone was luring the kids into the woods. Several of the women began to grab their kids, while a couple ran to grab their husbands. David had overheard one of them telling their child's father of what happened and immediately headed to the playground at the park. In less than half an hour a search party had started in the nearby forest for whoever tried taking Robyn. Zelena has been called the second the other moms had begun to leave and she took her daughter home.

After an hour or so Regina showed up on her sister's doorstep with an update, "They haven't found anyone yet, they're going to look for a little longer in another part of the woods. If they can't find anyone, David and Emma are going to patrol the town tonight to look for anyone suspicious."

The previously wicked witch replied, "Okay."

They both heard Robyn's voice coming from the living room saying, "No, mommy says I have to stay inside. Do you want to have a tea party?... Okay!"

Regina looked over her sister's shoulder to see an excited Robyn dash off to her room and return only a few seconds later with a basket full of plastic tea cups, saucers, spoons, and anything else needed for a tea party. Zelena whispered, "She's been playing these little games with herself since we got home."

"Well, she does have an active imagination," Regina said, continuing to observe her niece.

"I know, but she insisted on me bringing out two coloring books when we got back and setting an extra place at the dinner table tonight."

The mayor looked at her younger sister, "So? Maybe she just has an imaginary friend. Henry had one of those growing up."

Zelena looked her sister dead in the eye as she added, "Part of the page she'd opened in the second coloring book was colored perfectly inside the lines."

"What?"

Stepping aside, the red haired women motioned for Regina to come in and then led her to kitchen table where a coloring book sat open. It was a picture of a butterfly where the body had been shaded in lightly with a tan colored pencil. Zelena then picked up a page that had been ripped out and placed under the book, revealing a jungle scene that had been scribbled on for the most part by anything that the child could have got her hands on. The two images were like night and day in difference and Regina had spent enough time with her niece to know she didn't bother with making her pictures look neat and tidy. The dark haired woman looked in the direction of her niece was now playing tea party and watched as she had a full blown conversation with herself. Curious as to what was going on, Regina finally walked over and stood beside the child.

"Hey Robyn, who are you talking to?"

The little girl smiled up at her and replied, "My friend."

Regina looked from her niece, to her sister, then back and asked, "Does your friend mind if I join you?"

She nodded, stating, "Sure, he likes you."

The mayor sat down between her niece and the assumed friend and asked, "Does your friend have a name?"

The child nodded once again. "Yeah." She stated simply. "Robin."


	2. Chapter 2

Zelena sat on the deck and watched as Robyn ran around the backyard, playing with her 'imaginary friend'. Her heart was elated and devastated at the same time. She hadn't loved him nearly as long as she should have, but it still killed her inside to know that he was gone and her daughter would never grow up with her father in her life. At least not in the same way as the rest of the kids her age. Maybe it was for the best. She was too young to even know Robin, let alone understand just how much he loved her. The girl didn't have enough time to consciously love her father back. How could she miss something she never had, right? At least that's what Zelena was telling herself to keep from facing restless nights.

"Daddy push me!" Robyn squealed as she ran to the swing on her play structure in the middle of the gated property. As she hopped on and waited her smile began to fade and she said, "Oh." Looking disappointedly in the direction of where Zelena was sitting she called out, "Mommy, can you come push me?"

Zelena smiled, "Of course, my little Green Bean."

Robyn jumped up onto the swing and waited for her mother to walk behind her and give her a push. After a while, she decided she wanted to continue playing and asked, "Can Robin and I play in the front yard?"

"I don't see why not."

The little girl hopped off the swing and made a break for the back door. She patiently waited for her mom to catch up before dashing through the dining room and living room, to the front door. Again, she waited until her mother was right on her heels before she threw the door open and stepped out onto the front steps. She giggled as she lept off the top step and landed on the ground with a thud. Zelena was about to ask if she was okay, when she popped up and began running across the yard, as if chasing something. It was then that she noticed Regina was walking down the sidewalk, heading towards their house.

"Aunt Regina! Aunt Regina!" Robyn shouted happily.

Regina squated down to her niece's level and scooped her up in a hug, "Hey, Beanie Baby, what are you and your mom up to?"

"Playing with daddy," She replied.

"Oh," Regina set her down and said, "I'll let you continue then." She watched as the little girl ran to the opposite end, shouting and laughing as if someone were physically there with her. The look on Zelena's face told her there was something wrong and Regina slowly made her way over to check. "How are you?" She asked.

Putting on a fake smile the witch relied, "Good."

The redhead put a hand up to block the sun from her eyes as she spun around she see what her daughter was doing. Regina pulled her back after saying, "No, how are you really doing?"

This time Zelena didn't smile, "I'm okay. I'll be fine."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm just," She sighed, "I'm a little frustrated is all."

Regina squinted as she looked up, "What about?"

"This whole thing with Robin."

"Oh?"

She looked almost angry as she answer, "He died and left me with his son and our daughter and the only time he comes around is when Robyn wants to play."

"How do you know this?"

"He and I got into it last night."

Regina looked surprised as she asked, "Wait, you can see him now too?"

Zelena responded a little embarrassed, "Yeah. He showed up in the hall last night as I was leaving Roland's room. He followed me into the kitchen and that's when we started arguing."

"What about?"

"Everything. It started with him waiting forever to show his face, then it turned into why he spends more time with Robyn than Roland, and eventually I asked him why he didn't come to me first. I never really got to say goodbye to him and instead of coming to find me, he just showed up for our daughter."

The mayor didn't know how to respond. She stood staring at her sister as she looked down at the ground, trying to hide her tears. It wasn't until they heard a car horn and screeching tires that they looked in the direction of where Robyn had been playing to find it was now empty. Both women spun around just in time to see a delivery truck sliding straight towards the child. Zelena let out a scream that could have easily shredded her vocal chords as Regina started running to the street. The truck was only a few inches away when they both saw Emma Swan reach out, grab the girl, and pull her out of the pathway of the oncoming truck. The Mills sisters watched as Emma fell backwards, holding onto Robyn like her life depended on it.

The commercial rig hadn't even come to a complete stop when Zelena caught up to her sister in getting across the street to where Robyn and Emma were laying. Regina was the first to them as a crowd began to form. Emma kept a hold of Robyn, making sure no one could touch her until the paramedics got there, as she'd seen someone begin to dial on their phone the second the youngest Hood child attempted to cross the street. As soon as Regina's voice made it to her ears, she loosened her grip and handed little Robyn over, just as Zelena had pushed her way through to the center of all the people.

"Regina." The name fell off Emma's lips in such an odd way that she stopped and stared at the woman.

"Emma? Are you okay?"

Again, Emma said, "Regina."

There was something about the way it was said that told the mayor it wasn't Emma talking. "Robin?"

Emma fell back ever so slightly and when she caught herself, she looked up at the brunette as if she were hiding some dark secret. The crowd of townspeople was beginning to get so loud that Regina didn't even see the point in trying to ask her anything specific. The look on the poor woman's face was enough to tell her that she'd definitely been speaking with someone other than Emma. Seeing as Robin was the only ghostly presence that had been around lately, Regina concluded that he must have taken over Emma's body to save his daughter from being killed. Then it hit her... Robin could possess people.


End file.
